Traditional Chinese Medicine Considers Wind and Cold as Pathogens Causing Disease

I saw a patient complaining of neck and back pain.

She described that prior to her pain she had been walking outside in the recent minus cold temperatures when she noticed that her neck, shoulder and back started to tighten and go into spasm. The only activity that gave her relief was stretching and exercising. She went on to describe her workouts often lasting 3 hours a day.

Exam and Findings

Examination revealed the patient had trigger points in the neck and low back musculature causing restricted mobility. Inspection of her tongue revealed a white coating a key sign to cold pathogen invasion. I performed a DIGITAL MERIDIAN IMAGING ANALYSIS and the results confirmed my suspensions. She had deficiencies in both her kidney and spleen channels.

I dicussed that in Traditional Chinese Medicine it is a principle that wind together with cold are pathogen that can produce deleterious affects. As described in the Lingshu a 1st century BC Chinese Text states, the north wind can carry cold that affects the shoulders and back.

Because of her excessive workout schedule, this predisposes you to have decrease blood and Qi, especially in women, leading to malnourishment of the channels allowing pathogens like wind and cold to invade the body.